Finding Legacy prospects

Many legacy fundraisers face a common challenge: pinpointing which donors are most likely to pledge a legacy. And while applying a mixture of experience and intuition will have some success, using analytical modelling, such as a propensity model promises to greatly enhance the effectiveness of your efforts while reducing unnecessary expenditure.

And with the average value of a residual legacy gift topping £60,000 finding a single prospect who you may have missed using a manual approach in your campaign selections makes our data-driven insights incredibly cost effective.

We can help identify who is most likely to respond to a legacy campaign, become an enquirer, leave you a legacy and even who is most likely to leave you a residual legacy!

With this information imagine being able to focus your efforts on the individuals who are most likely to contribute, maximizing your impact while minimizing unnecessary expenditure.

The right technique

At Adroit we use a range of modelling techniques for predictive analytics, including individual decision trees, random decision forests, logistic regressions, and neural networks.  And by creating multiple models we can identify which approach offers you the most effective way to achieve your desired outcome.   

The term “predictive analytics” refers to applying mathematical models to data in order to forecast whether someone will take a particular action. In other words, it’s a way to identify the individuals in your supporter base who are most likely to engage with you about possibly leaving a legacy.

Creating the model

Our models are created by exploring the performance of previous campaigns that share your desired outcome.  By identifying which factors or combination of factors were most discriminating between supporters we can define which characteristics and behaviours we should look for among the target audience. 

A supporters transactions history will of course be hugely important, but so will demographic information, attitudinal factors, experiential factors and non-transactional behaviours.   

If you haven’t run a recent legacy campaign then we can work with you to structure a test campaign selection, from which we can extract the insights necessary to build a model for future campaigns. 

Where to start?

At Adroit our starting point is always defining what you’re hoping to achieve, what information you have about your current supporters and past legacy campaigns. That way we can recommend an approach which is tailored to your supporters and your ambitions. For example, a model that scores supporters on their likelihood to respond to a legacy campaign may be very different to a model that predicts who is most likely to leave you a residual gift in their Will.  

And models can be defined tighter still!

In the example of a campaign response model we can identify which channel may be most effective for each person (outbound calling, direct mail or email), and just as importantly helping you identify when is the optimum time in someone’s relationship with you to make the request. And even help identify who is most likely to respond to certain creative propositions!

What does it all mean?

If you’re a legacy fundraiser we’re guessing you won’t be too happy if we present you with the outputs of a unfathomable mathematical model! We know that your only concern is making sense of it and using it to start getting value from your investment.

That’s why we allocate specific time to interpret the model, walk you though the key insights and ensure you’re comfortable with how to incorporate it within future campaigns. And if you’d like we can work closely with you to implement the model and review how well it’s worked after a campaign.

Future Value

As part of our service upon completion of the project and analysis of the results, we can provide you with a projection of the additional financial value your activity may have generated, including when that value is most likely to be realized.

Delivery

We typically estimate between 4 to 8 weeks delivery depending upon the complexity of of the project.